An American in Bangkok

Looking ahead, I'm excited about what lies in wait for me upon my arrival to Thailand. As excited as I am, I know that, at times, I will be presented with a lot of challenges -- many of which will probably stem from cultural difference.

First off, one of the things that might be the most tricky is that, as a Westerner, I place a lot of value on my identity as an individual, and going into a culture that is collectivist in nature might cause issues. I am very introverted in many ways and need lots of time alone because being in groups tends to wear me down quickly and easily. Emphasis on one's role in the group at large as opposed to the self within the group will be a different understanding that I will have to get used to.

I suppose most obviously, a physical cultural barrier would be the fact that I have almost no understanding of the Thai language, and although at the university people will speak English, in the day to day of ordering a taxi or a meal, I will scarcely find people who speak my language. While I am there I am taking Thai language courses, and I plan on practicing some before I arrive, but all the same I'm sure some stress will arise from language barriers.

After taking some of the surveys we've done for class as well as paying attention to myself more often, I've noticed how rigid I can be about time. I'm not necessarily an organized person with good time management skills, but I am never late and I cannot stand it when other people are late or keep me waiting. Researching online shows that Thai concepts of time are very fluid and flexible, so I am going to start working now on loosening up about timeliness so as not to offend anyone while I am there,

A couple of weeks ago my mother shared a post on my Facebook about various obscene hand gestures from about the world, which at first I thought was a weird thing for her to do but it turns out that the thumbs-up is equivalent to the middle finger in Thailand. I give people the thumbs-up on the regular so I need to not anymore so again, I don't accidentally offend people.

It will be hard work preparing culturally to enter into a society so different from my own; even with preparation there will still be times while I'm abroad that I'll have no idea what is happening and *hopefully* people will be understanding and help me adjust.